Exclusive: Harry Brooks Ready to Ignite the Ashes as England New Torchbearer

Harry Brook is the new star of English cricket. 

He scored centuries in the Pakistan Super League and Indian Premier League, the fastest century in The Hundred, and also the third-fastest triple century in Test cricket. The performances helped earn captaincy in white-ball cricket, and vice-captaincy in Tests.

The Ashes, starting November 21 in Australia, and the ICC T20 World Cup in February 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, will be the litmus test of his leadership and free-flowing batsmanship.

Though these are early days, he hasn't been able to replicate the big scores (10 Test centuries) in white-ball cricket, only one ODI century and none in T20Is; only four half-centuries.

PICKING NUANCES FROM STOKES-MCCULLUM

Martin Speight, Brook's childhood coach at Sedbergh School in Cumbria, felt his strong technique and leadership experience stood him in good stead ahead of the big tournaments. 

"He captained in school and England in the U-19. He has a good cricketing brain, but I think he has possibly learnt quite a lot being around the Test team for the past three years from Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. And the way they take pressure off the players, allowing them to perform, make mistakes and develop their game. They set an environment," he told SportsBoom.co.uk. 

"I first saw him when he was 14. He was a tubby kid and not particularly athletic. But he worked incredibly hard on his fitness. He was always good on the back foot and off his legs. A good technical player in age-group cricket. His mentality was always to play technically correctly. He built the foundation of his game in school. He didn't smash everywhere then, compared to today, when you cannot bowl at him if it's his day. It was only after 17 that we started looking at more aggressive stuff. He used to hit the ball inside out over extra cover and mid-off, and gradually developed his game from there," added Speight, who played for Durham and Sussex as wicketkeeper-batsman apart from training the current England limited-overs captain.

Speight highlighted how the flamboyant right-handed batter endured a tough series against India. And then, he went on to captain in The Hundred, and then England against South Africa. It is a matter of time before he explodes in white-ball cricket.

Brook still seeks Speight's advice when in doubt. 

"We speak over WhatsApp. The series against India was mentally and physically draining. I had a chat last weekend. He has got back to training. He sends me videos and asks for my thoughts. He tries to understand what's happening with his game. He always wants to get better," said the seasoned coach.

LEARNING ON THE JOB

Speight reasoned that Brook developed into a strong batter after speaking to different coaches in different franchise tournaments, apart from England batting coach Marcus Trescothick. Plus, he has his own drawing board and vision to polish his skills. 

"This is why he has done well in all formats. He found a game and a style to set himself up the way he wanted to play. That took him beyond a good technical player."

"He will ask a lot of questions. He will ask what about this, and what about that, against that bowler on that pitch, and the percentage of a particular shot. Many players are actually learning on the job, as they don't play a huge amount of domestic cricket to work on their game. A modern international player is busy all year. They pick people's brains. In franchise cricket, you will have advice from different coaches on playing certain types of bowlers."

"If you want to know how to play well against a spin bowler, ask someone who bowled similarly to them, and they are probably into coaching a franchise now. They will tell you how they want you to play as a bowler and how they won't like you playing. Players are constantly talking to each other for knowledge these days, with so much cricket happening around the year."

Brook was part of the England side that won the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 under Jos Buttler, and scored runs against Australia in the home Ashes two years ago. He is definitely more prepared than anybody else, especially after 481 runs against India, including two centuries, in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

Rounding off his impressive journey, he spent two seasons in The Hundred under the guidance of legendary England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.